Levy visits tea party

Thought we'd share this photo snapped Wednesday of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who showed up at a tea party organized by, of what we can tell, fans of Sean Hannity.
The lunatic fringe showed up nationwide on tax day to protest tax increases, even though most middle-class Americans are getting a tax break. Hey, why ...

19 comments

They aren’t protesting income taxes today. Its the combination of random itemized taxes (Luxury, Itemized Sales Tax, Fuel Tax and so on) and the inevitable future taxation to resolve the deficit which has now under both Obama and Bush become the 14 trillion pound gorilla in the closet.

Also you might remember, we did have 2 recessions in the decade called the 70s. I dont think you would want to find any parralels there with the 70% tax rates. Granted much of it is due to the deindustrialization of america and fuel prices, but that can’t be the sole issue and wasn’t.

Anyone who is a conservative is now called the “Lunatic Fringe” by Liberals. Funny how when George Soros, Moveon.org, ACLU and others financial supported every liberal protest and demonstration before Obama no one mentioned their support. They were called “grass root protests”…”real Americans”. Yet when a conservative organization and conservative commentators support a massive protest, they are called shams and demonized by Liberals and the “Media Elite”.
Time for the fairness doctrine please.

Glenn,
It’s not fair to lump all Liberals together anymore than it’s appropriate to demonize all conservatives. Extremists on both sides are detrimental to our country’s well-being. Unfortunately right now, at one of America’s darkest hours, some conservative commentators are whipping right wingnuts into a frenzy which is dangerous for everyone. I personally am too compassionate to throw people in trouble to the wolves, especially since many lost their ability to pay their bills through no fault of their own. But I also know of some people who have lived beyond their means for years and don’t love the idea of paying for their excesses. In a tug of war almost everyone ends up muddy…is it possible for us all to pull in the same direction for just a little while?

>>Funny how when George Soros, Moveon.org, ACLU and others financial supported every liberal protest and demonstration before Obama no one mentioned their support. They were called “grass root protests”…”real Americans”.<<

So David’s quote of someone, or else the spokesman of someone who was actually there, was “This was much more of a patriotic rally, and there were many people there who were just saying ‘enough is enough,’” said Levy spokesman Dan Aug, who added that “these people are Steve’s people.” and somehow he reports it as lunatic fringe.

So David is on file as calling Steve Levy a Lunatic Fringe. I’ll tell him you said that David when I talk to him on Tuesday.

Steve Levy showed up because he would like the Tea Parties support in his resolutions to balance the counties budget. Guess what, I think every Lunatic would support such an initiative.

Only the Sane ones would like to go back to the economy of the 70′s. Great point David!

Contact me if you want to actually know about the rally instead of just commenting on it. I ran it.
-Brian Whitehurst

You have absolutely missed the point. The tea parties were organized by a grass roots group not Sean Hannity. If I were you I would check my facts before you spread your venom. Lunatic fringe is a vulgar insult to people excercising their Constitutional right to free speech. But free speech apparently is only reserved for ACLU and Move On people not average Americans.
Susan Hoare

You are the perfect zealot. I’m reading this post and nowhere do I see the author calling Steve Levy part of the lunatic fringe. You wrote “David is on file as calling Steve Levy a lunatic fringe.” How strange, how sad.

There is a link in this post. Click on it. That seems like the lunatic fringe to me. Comparing taxpayers to Jews in ovens? Calling the new administration White Slavery? Sounds like lunatic fringe to me.

I spend most of my time in Manhattan, so I don’t know what happened at your rally on Long Island. God willing, there was no racist behavior there and judging by the post, there wasn’t. But it wouldn’t surprise me if there was.

Thank goodness Huffington Post called out the lunatic fringe. If only libn.com went down to the Long Island rally and did some of those interviews. God knows what kind of people we would have found.

David wrote “The lunatic fringe showed up nationwide on tax day to protest tax increases”

David quoted Levy’s spokesman when taking about Hauppauge attendees “these people are Steve’s people.”

A is A. Logic may be withing the grasp of a perfect zealot but it seems out side the grasp of his detractor.

Facts also seem outside the grasp of David. He wrote “Steve Levy, who showed up at a tea party organized by, of what we can tell, fans of Sean Hannity” No where at the Hauppauge did anyone hold up a sign or mention Sean Hannity. However, Glen Beck got a great round of applause.

Steve wrote “I don’t know what happened at your rally on Long Island. God willing, there was no racist behavior there and judging by the post, there wasn’t. But it wouldn’t surprise me if there was.” I am using a tactic used by Sean Hannity. Merely quoting people so everyone can see what is truly in their hearts.

Steven, I don’t expect you to understand what was in the hearts of the Tea Party goers. I did go the the Long Island rally and talked to them and am honored to have stood with them. But comments like “If only libn.com went down to the Long Island rally and did some of those interviews. God knows what kind of people we would have found.” smacks of prejudice. You are showing what is in your heart.

The following tax increases are a result of the Obama tax policy letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Why no one can articulate this is beyond me. Americans hate what FDR, LBJ, Nixon, Bush, and Obama have done to our country. The Constitution has been abandoned. The country would be unrecognizable to the founders. Decades of abuse. This is not a partisan issue rather an exercise of disgust with the mismanagement of the Founders dream.
Tax rates will rise substantially in each tax bracket, some by 450 basis points
Low-income taxpayers will see the 10-percent tax bracket disappear, and they will have to pay taxes at the 15-percent rate
Married taxpayers will see the marriage penalty return
Taxpayers with children will lose 50 percent of their child tax credits
Taxes on dividends will increase beginning on January 1, 2009
Taxes on capital gains will increase, also beginning on January 1, 2009
Federal death taxes will come back to life in 2011, after fading down to nothing in 2010.Finally you can’t write worth a dam!

The lunatic fringe just wants to keep their hard earned money. I am troubled that some might think that, that is a radical or loony idea. This government is so far removed from the founders intent that it is almost unrecognizable. The anger is universal. Neither party is interested in the public good, of the taxpayers money. Government does not make money it only steals it from us the producers. Meanwhile politician squander our money and cheat on their taxes. It has to stop. Government has to be starved from our tax dollars, your too.

Andrew Mazz, you’re absolutely wrong. Obama hasn’t raised taxes on anyone making under $250,000. The top marginal tax rates are going back to what they were during the Clinton administration. That’s it.

The Tea Parties aren’t “grass roots”, they’re astroturf. But I’m glad we had them because it brought a lot of the psychosis of right-wing extremism and put it right in front of the cameras for everyone to see. Well done there people.

And Glen Beck is a serious nut job. He’s always going off about the “new world order” and how Obama is gonna take away all your guns. It was this exact kind of rhetoric that inspired Richard Poplawski to pick up a rifle and gun down police in Pittsburgh.

Chuchundra: the following taxes will be increased when Obama allows the previous administrations tax cuts to “sunset”: the biggest hit to the poor is the bottom 10% tax bracket disappearing. The poor will now have to pay 15% instead of 10% on their first $15,000 of income. You can believe what you want, it won’t change the facts. Please research for yourself if you do not want to believe me. The following shows other ways everyone’s taxes are going up. Did you really think that 5% of the population was going to pay for this bloated government. I have a bridge to sell you and your friends!

Low-income taxpayers will see the 10-percent tax bracket disappear, and they will have to pay taxes at the 15-percent rate
Married taxpayers will see the marriage penalty return
Taxpayers with children will lose 50 percent of their child tax credits
Taxes on dividends will increase beginning on January 1, 2009
Taxes on capital gains will increase, also beginning on January 1, 2009

Chuchundra: Our freedoms have been eroding since the Great Depression. Our money is confiscated from us and squandered by the politicians. It is not left or right they are both destroying the founders dream. Take for instance Social Security, how much money is in the supposed trust fund. The answer is 0, absolutely nothing. This fund alone is underfunded by 3 times the national debt (that everyone is rightly worried about). Don’t confuse anti government with one party or another there were plenty of anti GOP signs at the rallies. You had better hope this is grass roots, because your tax dollars and your childrens future is at stake.

How dare you refer to these Tea Parties as lunatic fringe?
Your “source” was ill-informed. The Tea Party that I attended was a gathering of Patriots that are fed up with the direction of this country and are expressing it in a non-violent manner!

David, you’re a perfect candidate for a post with the Department of Homeland Security. They now declare those of who: are pro-life, stand for the second amendment, want reduced government, and want this obscene spending spree to end as a threat to the nation. And now you label some of those attending as the “lunatic fringe”. Oddly, you weren’t there so I doubt your opinion is of any substane. As someone who was there I can tell you that it is of no substance. You make accusations and try to disguise them as fact. You know, if that job at Homeland Security doesn’t work out, you could always try the NY TImes as their reporting is as bad as yours. If you really want to talk about the lunatic fringe, let’s revisit William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright – two of our apologetic president’s friends. Those are real lunatics.

I would have to believe that the fringe lunatics have taken over DC. and far too many Americans are not astute enough to realize that their Democracy is going down the tubes and fast. We will soon find that congress will be voting out the US constitution in favor of the European Union Model as championed by George Soros. And, when wealthy Americans and business leaders hit the exits in droves and tax revenues tank, those who voted for serfdom will be preparing to blame everyone but themselves.

Good to know these are “Steve’s people”. All the more reason to know better than to support Steve Levy, who I used to like – a lot. He was refreshing as a non-politician but he’s become just another politician.

I especially loved learning what “tea bag” means on the street and juxtaposing that to the self righteous people and their televised brouhaha.